Heirs Episodes 9-10, Kim Tan Needs Direction

There are certain scenes that make watching Heirs worthwhile to me. They almost make up for the rest of this convoluted show we call Heirs. Not quite, but almost. In particular, Madam Han’s scenes are always enjoyable.

I was hoping that Madam Han would take the place of Eun-sang’s mom at PTA meetings and thank goodness she did. The meeting was unintentionally hilarious and the whole one-upmanship thing she does just cracks me up. But more than that, she’s got heart.

Even when Madam Han is nagging Kim Tan or bossing around Eun-sang’s mother, she puts emotion into it. She somehow manages to portray a (bumbling) scheming, materialistic woman who, at the end of the day, loves her son. It was heartbreaking watching her admit just how excited she had been to go to a PTA meeting for once. With another actress, the character might not have been so sympathetic but Kim Sung-ryung knocks it out of the park.

I also love her scenes with Eun-sang’s mom, Park Hee-nam (Kim Mi-kyung). I would love to watch a show with just these two. The show could follow Madam Han around through her crazy hijinks and Hee-nam could play her friend and the grounding force that has to deal with the aftermath. SBS, please make this happen.

Unfortunately,there aren’t many other scenes that capture my attention and Kim Tan’s lack of character growth has become a big problem. Or maybe he’s just showing his true colors.

Last week I spoke about Young-do and why I don’t think he’ll ever redeem himself. Now it seems as if Kim Tan is going to have a hard time redeeming himself but for entirely different reasons.

Kim Tan is set up to be our hero. This is a formulaic drama and his constant “saving” of Eun-sang and her unusual family situation are supposed to make the viewer want to root for him. But so far, Kim Tan has not given me any reason to support him.

He’s been manipulative, selfish, and possessive — none of which are good qualities to have in a boyfriend. And while I’ve been annoyed at his lack of personal growth during the show, the turning point came in episode ten when he went to Young-do’s father.

Let me say this upfront: Young-do should not have messed with Kim Tan’s family. However, Kim Tan had absolutely no right to go to Young-do’s father. Kim Tan knows that Young-do’s father is abusive. The smirk he gives in the hallway while walking away from the father’s office tells us that. He knew that Young-do’s father would beat him. And he still went for it.

Luckily, Young-do was spared by being beaten with a belt. But Kim Tan’s actions crossed so many lines and that smile of his made me realize that he hasn’t given up his bullying ways.

His bully past has been talked about in the drama but only now do we truly see what he is capable of. Kim Tan never stopped being a bully, he just became more subtle about it. This explains why he’s been so controlling of Eun-sang — he simply hasn’t let go of his past.

And that’s why his “confession” scene rang false with me. Kim Tan tells Eun-sang that he showed courage for her but what courage did he really show? He semi-protected her from Young-do? Was forcing a kiss on her courage? Or was his courage telling Rachel he didn’t want to break the engagement a signal that they could date other people?

Speaking of Rachel, I think her decision to attempt to call off the engagement was interesting. On the surface, it seems as if she did so to show Kim Tan how difficult his family would make it if he truly wanted to break their engagement. But I can’t help but wonder if she did so for herself.

Rachel knows Kim Tan will never want her so I wonder if she was testing the waters to end the engagement so that she herself could be free. After all, she admitted herself that her love for Kim Tan had turned into hate. I really wish we had more screen time of Rachel being Rachel instead of being in bitch mode. Her character deserves more than that.

Similarly, Rachel’s mother is having male problems as well but I’m not very invested in that side plot. What interested me, though, was her concern over Young-do getting in a fight.

On some level, we know her concern is superficial. She doesn’t particularly like Young-do but he will be her step-son soon. Yet at the same time, she is coming to a realization of the true character of Young-do’s father and I can’t help but wonder if she feels sympathetic towards Young-do because of that.

And now that we’ve come full circle back to Young-do, can someone get him a parental figure who is actually interested in his well-being? I wonder just how different he would be if his mother were still around. Then again, knowing his father, his mother would probably be lying in an early grave for daring to leave him.

Okay, that was a morbid ending. Here’s a stray observation to keep things light: Kim Tan’s wine cellar is fantastic. Where can I get me one of those?